Optoelectronic switches using a combination of active and passive components to switch in the optical domain are known. The path of an optical signal in a passive component such as an AWG will depend upon its wavelength. In some related art configurations, it is necessary to provide tunable laser light to enable the control of wavelength of signals and therefore ensure that each signal reaches its desired destination ports as a result of the optical properties of the passive optical switching components. However, tunable lasers are typically more expensive than fixed wavelength lasers and their control can be more complex and expensive.
U.S. Ser. No. 14/715,448, describes the use of concentration of optical packets together wavelength division multiplexing.
Optical circuit switches that are wavelength independent (at least within a given wavelength band) are known and Mach Zehnder optical switches are known, for example in signal routing and in adding and dropping. An example is given by Kumar et al. in IEEE/ICAIT 6 Jul. 2013. Mach Zehnder interferometers are known to have been implemented on silicon on insulator platforms as shown, for example in GB 2319335.